NW investment market remains resilient despite Brexit decision

Despite the recent Brexit referendum, the North West’s investment market is remaining resilient and bucking the national trend which has seen investment levels fall, according to figures released by Lambert Smith Hampton.

During the first nine months of 2016, investment into the North West increased by eight per cent in comparison to the same period in 2015, despite the recent Brexit referendum. This is in stark contrast to the national picture which saw investment reduce by 37 per cent in 2016 compared with the same period the previous year.

In the third quarter of the year, the region was particularly buoyant, with several large transactions taking investment across the region up to a total of £615m.

The two stand out deals, 1 St Peter’s Square (£164m), which was bought by an overseas investor, and Greengate (£110m), a PRS scheme which was bought by a UK fund, were the UK’s two biggest deals outside London, and together contributed nearly half (£274m) of the region’s overall investment spend during Q3.

Abid Jaffry, head of northern capital markets, Lambert Smith Hampton, said: “Although you might expect that the recent high levels of investment in the North West has largely come from overseas buyers taking advantage of the devaluation of Sterling post referendum, that isn’t necessarily the case. More than half of the spend this quarter came from UK-based investors.

“There also is a real spread across the different sectors with office, industrial, retail and hotels all showing strong investment volumes.

“This apparent level of stability is quite surprising when you consider the current political and economic landscape, which has seen investment in Q3 drop by 25 per cent on the same period last year. However it should be noted that a lot of the deals that happened in Q3 and in particular Greengate and 1 St Peter’s Square were committed deals that have taken over 12 months to complete.

“Nevertheless, despite strong Brexit headwinds, regional performance in the NW market continues to attract significant investment. The road ahead for the UK including the NW will be bumpy so investors will be drawn to marketplaces which have depth and resilience. The underlying fundamentals of strong occupational activity and a mature market therefore bode well for the region.”

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